Shattered
by Katerina Banecourt
Summary: Elijah had thought leaving for New Orleans was the right thing to do. Not just for the sake of his family; but given Klaus's recent threats also for Katherine's. To protect her. Only for one moment to change everything, when an argument leads Rebekah to tell him of Katherine's fate - in the worst way possible. One moment and all his hopes, his dreams - his heart lay in ruins.
1. Part I: A Shocking Revelation

_**Summary:**_ _Elijah had thought leaving for New Orleans was the right thing to do. Not just for the sake of his family; but given Klaus's recent threats also for Katherine's. To protect her. Only for one moment to change everything. The moment when an argument leads Rebekah to tell him of Katherine's death - in the worst way possible. One moment and all his hopes, his dreams - his heart lay in ruin. Shattered.  
 **Pairings:**_ _Elijah & Katherine! Slight hints of Hayley & Elijah (though ultimately onesided), also mentions Elijah & Céleste and Elijah & Tatia  
 **Genres:**_ _Tragedy, Angst, Hurt/Comfort (emphasis on the former), Drama  
 **Spoilers:**_ _TVD up to 5x11 & TO up to 1x12  
 **Warnings:**_ _Character deaths (canon and non-canon)! There will be hints of depression and possibly OOC behavior. Some violence.  
 **Author's Notes:**_ _I'm actually already working on a multi-chapter AU story dealing with Elijah finding out about Katherine's death - which in both, this oneshot and the other story actually happened at the end of "500 Years of Solitude" - but when I watched the 12th episode of The Originals I just had to write this, especially after that scene between Elijah and Bex, when he confronted her about her schemes!  
This is actually just about the only of my TVD/TO stories in which Klaus & Hayley did in fact hook up, considering that overall I just never could see that happening given his obvious infatuation with Caroline at the time and the part Hayley had in the hybrid rebellion. It's also one of the only stories of mine in which Kol was killed in TVD season 4.  
Considering that I'm already writing that multi-chapter story this was originally going to be a oneshot, but then I got stuck on the last part, so I decided to split it up because I was rather excited about this story and after the initial five months of actually writing I wanted to finally post it, so between the considerable length and trouble finishing the section toward the end this story became a three-shot. Anyways, enjoy reading! :)_

* * *

 **Shattered**

 _~oOo Part I: A Shocking Revelation oOo~_

It had only been a few bare minutes following Rebekah's recovery from having been desiccated - from having been channeled by Papa Tunde, before she had run off with little thanks for their aid. Naturally. And, of course, her first and foremost concern turned out to be chasing down that little vampire, Thierry, to exact revenge, punishment for his betrayal of her, for fleeing rather than helping her upon being faced with a foe much more powerful than himself. He truly wished he could actually be surprised by this yet so typical behavior, but sadly it had become all too familiar, all too common place - it had truly come to be expected. Of all of them, really. Even himself, he supposed, although not without considerable regret. Hoping to talk some sense into his baby sister, to pacify her at least to some degree and discourage her from any further underhanded actions aimed at their brother, Elijah had taken it upon himself to find her. Granted, he had seen the need to first make a brief stop on the way to ensure Hayley's safe return to the family's compound before he dealt with Rebekah.

Yet, knowing his sister it hadn't taken too long for him to find her just as she was having quite a go at Thierry. With ease he took out the pesky little vampire, snapping his neck, before turning his attention to Rebekah herself. "I asked you to cease these petty moves against our family, and yet you still conspire against us with this fool. Is this what it's come to?" he wanted to know, his eyes not leaving his sister's face, "Making moves against your own blood?"

"Don't you try to shame me." Rebekah scoffed in response, all but expected outrage lacing her voice, "Nik grows more powerful by the day and you do _nothing_ but encourage him!"

Elijah frowned, holding back a sigh, as he pointed out, "I offer him my counsel, because it is clear to me that he means to make the city our home again. Perhaps leading these derelicts," he briefly glanced dismissively down at Thierry, a frown upon his face and distaste slipping into his voice as he referred to the bunch of vampires his brother chose to surround himself with in his quest to be king, "will manage to curb some of his darker impulses. Perhaps it will even grant him some degree of happiness." while speaking he had looked back toward his sister.

As she listened and listened to Elijah, yet again defending their half-brother - and his own all but blind willingness to aid Nik in his schemes, regardless of consequences for or the interests of the rest of their dysfunctional family, Rebekah could feel her insides starting to boil with her frustrations. Frustrations that only her two remaining brothers could manage to elicit in her. And she'd had enough of it! "You always talk about Nik's happiness. But for a thousand years he has robbed me of any chance at my own. Just as he did to you! You may be foolish enough to be willing to keep looking past that. But what about me, Elijah? Am I not a concern for you?" she demanded to know, her anger further fanned by the moisture building in her eyes, furious tears that were threatening to break free.

"We all make sacrifices in the name of this family, Rebekah, but do know this. I will never stand against you or Niklaus." Elijah assured her, trying to reason with her as he moved closer to her. He intentionally refrained from reminding Rebekah of just what he had been willing to sacrifice for their brother over the years. From reminding her of the fact that for centuries he had put their family before everything else, even before the girl he loved more than words could ever possibly express. The girl he had, only a few short months ago, yet again forced himself to part from to aid Niklaus, to protect their brother's unborn child, even when said brother himself hadn't wanted to care. Even as Niklaus had taken the first chance he got to betray him. He knew involving Katerina in this matter would only serve to draw more of Rebekah's ire. He knew that if he were to take that path, he just might as well give up altogether and simply count his losses where his sister was concerned.

Rebekah's eyes narrowed angrily, now taking a step towards Elijah herself, "And what about Hayley?" she spat, daringly, fierce anger blazing in her eyes as she accused, "Nothing I conspire to do, none of my treachery will harm this family as much as your feelings for her!" she paused for the briefest moment, breathing heavily from the emotions coursing through her. She could feel the tears breaking forth, streaking down her face, but right about now she couldn't care less, too damn angry as to care. She swallowed hard, then she told him angrily, "You're a hypocrite, Elijah! You choose love over family and then you _dare_ condemn me for doing the same."

There was a long moment of silence as Elijah was momentarily startled, taken aback by his sister's words, her accusations. Meanwhile Rebekah herself was taken by surprise by her own bluntness. She supposed, she could leave now, undoubtedly she had made her point, and yet something held her back. A need to truly drive her sentiments home, to make Elijah see himself for who he had become. And she wouldn't be a true Mikaelson if she didn't know, just as clearly as her brothers, what her siblings' weak spots were, which buttons to push just to inflict the most damage, _pain_ upon them - and more importantly, a willingness to utilize that knowledge when provoked... It truly was rare for her to turn against Elijah, who was after all arguably her favorite brother. Hell, Elijah - the fact she cared so deeply for him, had been the sole reason why she had returned to this god forsaken town in the first place, why she had been willing to remain here. But there just was only so much disappointment, so much hurt and frustration she could cope with. First, Niklaus had practically disowned her for causing Elena to turn into a vampire, followed by a lengthy list of other misdeeds from dragging up her tragic relationship with Alexander and then daggering her, over getting Kol killed with his desire to get the cure, and ultimately betraying Elijah when the two of them had left for New Orleans. Then Marcel had betrayed her all too recently, choosing once again Nik over her. Granted, it had been she herself who had insisted Marcel swore loyalty to Nik following their failed attempt of taking him down, but she hadn't expected that it would mean she would de facto lose him. And now Elijah was doing the same, electing to put Nik's interests before everything else... _Again._ Happily following the all too familiar pattern repeated by them time and time again over the centuries of their life. Looking past their half-brother's actions, regardless of what Nik did. Forgiving any of Nik's transgressions in all but a heartbeat! All just because of an oath sworn too many lifetimes ago, and disregarded far too many times as to still hold any real meaning.

Which was why instead she remained rooted in place, right in front of her eldest living brother, her hands clenching into white-knuckled fists by her sides as she snapped, "You call yourself honorable, _noble_... Yet your foolish affections for Hayley even made you forsake your oh-so _precious_ Katerina!" her voice turning harsher, almost taunting, with every word she spoke as years of bottled up anger, disappointment broke forth in the furious rage all but consuming her in this moment, faced yet again with Elijah's judgement while Niklaus remained beyond reproach. As always. "All those years ago, you betrayed Nik for Katherine - only for her to betray you in turn. And yet you kept pining for her for more than five centuries! Like a lovesick fool you went back to her, conspiring against us just to free her from Nik's rightful hunger for vengeance - you were willing to _blackmail_ our brother, just so you could have her back, just to have that perfect happily ever after with her you've dreamed of for all those years! But here you are, forsaking her under the guise of family loyalty, only to chase after the next best pretty girl striking your fancy mere weeks after leaving Katherine." a sardonic chuckle escaped her, and she shook her head with dark amusement while adding, "Oh, and of course it couldn't be just _any_ girl, no, it just had to be the girl carrying our brother's child no less! Not that dear Katherine will ever know about your rather less than honorable exploits since your parting. But I _am_ rather curious, did you even care about her less than fortunate predicament, or were you just too preoccupied trying to woo Hayley as that it would have mattered, as to bother racing to her aid, or even contemplating doing as much? Or perhaps you truly just didn't care for her anymore."

Even as she was speaking, even as the words - this furious little tirade was spilling past her lips, part of her knew that she was crossing the line here. That she would probably come to regret this outburst, the pain she was quite knowingly in the process of inflicting upon her brother, rather sooner than later. Once her anger waned. Once she was truly faced with the damage she was doing this instant. And yet, right now she was just too damn angry as to give a bloody damn about the consequences!

Not even seeing Elijah's face fall was enough to stop her from continuing, instead she watched indifferently as his expression - only a moment ago so predictably, _typically_ aloof and understanding even in the face of their family yet again breaking apart - faltered while she spoke, being replaced first by annoyance and confusion, and soon with obvious concern. It simply didn't matter to her.

As he listened to Rebekah ranting, venting her frustrations on him, Elijah's brows knitted into an ever deepening frown, growing more confused, more worried the more she said, unable to tamper down on the sickening feeling rising within him. He could feel his chest, his throat tightening with the growing unease at the all but instinctual impression that this hidden knowledge regarding Katherine which Rebekah was playing at, whatever it was, would leave him devastated if she chose to reveal it to him. Yet, even as this feeling, this suspicion rapidly strengthened, turning into an unwanted certainty, still he had to ask, "Rebekah, what are you talking about? What is this predicament Katerina is supposedly faced with?" he demanded to know, his tone wary and suspicious as he all but forced himself to make the words come out.

"She's _dead_ , Elijah!" his sister gleefully, tauntingly announced, hurling the words at him with a vicious, almost sickening sense of satisfaction - a sentiment truly more to be expected of their half-brother rather than her, "Why do you think Nik has been in such a good mood since our return from Mystic Falls? Or, a better question yet, why do you think he and I made that trip in the first place!? Apparently, obnoxious little Elena succeeded where our dear brother failed so miserably for all those years." another derisive little chuckle broke free at the thought of how this little fact may have dampened Nik's malicious joy over the recent events in Mystic Falls. Seeing her brother frown even more, the confusion on his face, in his eyes growing as he undoubtedly tried to make sense of what she was telling him, Rebekah smirked wickedly, "Oh, don't tell me you hadn't known, Elijah? Surely, Katherine must have reached out to you at some point after Elena used the cure on her... Then again, as I said before, perhaps you were just too damn busy with Hayley as to remember, or even care about your darlin' Katerina." in an afterthought she added, "Or _maybe_ , you simply chose to put Nik before her just one time too many? I suppose, it really doesn't matter now, in the end..." she trailed off, still smirking coldly.

Elijah gave a stern, sharp shake of his head, refusing to believe this, "You are lying!" he accused, rage starting to boil up within him now as well as he snapped at her, "Is this your idea of retaliating against me, Rebekah!? To attempt causing me pain, just as you are doing to Niklaus by scheming against him!?" in his anger he shoved her rather harshly against the wall of one of the nearby buildings while speaking. He gave another shake of his head, unable to fathom that his sister would stoop to such lows just to get back at him for reprimanding her. That she would drag Katerina into this, that she would claim _she was dead_ , just to hurt him. And yet, as he stared her down, searching her face for the truth, he almost wished that was truly all it was. A ploy to cause him pain. Because if it wasn't... He couldn't even bring himself to truly consider the alternative. He just couldn't allow himself to consider, even for a moment, that Katherine could be gone, that he might have lost her forever, while he had been too busy trying to mend - _protect_ his dysfunctional family.

"No, I'm not lying. Katherine is dead, _she is gone_ , Elijah!" Rebekah retorted darkly, glaring right back at her brother, "After you left her behind Katherine didn't leave town. She ended up running into Elena, who shoved the cure down her throat, turning her not only human but making her the cure. Nik may have been here in New Orleans, and yet your beloved Katerina spent the last few weeks of her life running, hunted by Silas until Damon fed her to him!" while speaking her lips curved up into a gleeful, wicked smirk again, her tone matching her expression as she continued, almost pleasantly, relishing this moment as she taunted her brother with the truth, all the while knowing the devastation she was causing with every word, "Though I'm afraid, if you think that was the end of it you're mistaken. Seems Katherine's luck had finally run out for good, 'cause she didn't get off that easy. She didn't die when Silas drained every last drop of blood from her body, she came back to life afterwards. And once she did, she rapidly aged, her body rapidly failing her until she succumbed to old age. It all happened so quickly, the external changes couldn't even keep up. I'm sure, as vain as Katherine was, at least she found some solace in retaining her beauty up to the bitter end, as she lay there dying, surrounded by her enemies, abandoned even by the man claiming to truly love her. And, if not, at least she had Stefan's arms to comfort her. Guess, karma really is a bitch, just like she was." as she spat those last few words Rebekah pushed her brother away from her, freeing herself from his hold with ease, Elijah being too shocked by her revelations, her _claims_ as to make any effort to stop her. Yet, for one long moment she remained standing there, mere inches away from her brother, as she regarded him with a cold, hardened gaze. With utter indifference she noted how Elijah struggled with his emotions, trying to cling to his composure, his belief that she was lying about Katherine's demise, and yet she could see his hopes gradually dwindling away as his doubts grew, saw the shock and pain slowly seep through and outweigh his anger. Yet she didn't care one bit nor did she feel any regret over what she had done. Over revealing this devastating truth in such indifferent, harsh - and even outright cruel fashion. Over the pain she had undoubtedly caused her brother. If anything she felt a twisted - _malicious_ sense of pride. At least in this very moment, though she knew it wouldn't last, certainly not for long. The guilt for inflicting such pain on Elijah would come, no doubt. In fact it would probably come rather sooner than later. But right now she didn't care. And so she turned, leaving him standing there.

Elijah made no attempt to stop his sister, too preoccupied with trying to comprehend what Rebekah had told him, her claims that Katherine was dead. It just couldn't be true... Katherine could _not_ have died! Certainly not the way Rebekah had claimed she had. What was more, he refused to believe that something of this magnitude could have happened without him ever knowing, that he could ever possibly be so blindsided by anything. Nor could he believe that, even as angry and hurt as she must have undoubtedly been when he left her, Katherine wouldn't have reached out to him if she had in fact found herself faced with such a dire situation. And yet... He just couldn't cast aside the worry, the fear that had gripped him. Could Rebekah really have said the truth? Could he truly have been just too busy, too damn distracted here in New Orleans, as to be susceptible to Katherine's plight, her need for him? Was it really possible that she may have reached out to him, needing his help, and he had just failed to realize it?

Eventually he gave a sharp, angry shake of his head, pushing those thoughts aside. Katherine wasn't dead! She simply _couldn't_ be! He simply refused to believe that Katerina Petrova, the girl who had outrun - _outsmarted_ Niklaus for more than five centuries, and whom he had loved for just as many years had died. She simply couldn't have. Especially not of old age!

After continuing to stand there in the relatively quiet side street for another long moment, frozen in place by his thoughts, the undeniable shock, Elijah eventually moved, starting to walk.

* * *

For a long while he just meandered through the French Quarter rather aimlessly, too caught up in his troubled thoughts as to care much where he was going. All around him it seemed people, locals and tourists alike, were enjoying the nightlife of the city, partying, laughing - enjoying life like they had not a single care in the whole world. He paid them little mind, letting his surroundings, the people, the noise just fade away until it was all just a mere backdrop of blurred colors and shapes in motion; the laughter, the talking and music all around him fading into little more than white noise. He simply couldn't bring himself to care about those people and their lives, not even enough to begrudge them their happiness, their carefree demeanor. Their joy. Granted, in the depths of his mind a furious voice was nagging at him, unable to comprehend how these people could be so oblivious. In fact, part of him was outright offended, _enraged_ that they could just go about their lives as usual while he could barely think straight from the worry - _fear_ , the pain coursing through him, yet he was all too aware of the futility, the irrationality of that rage, or of even dwelling on its source. Because the fact remained that to anyone else around this _was_ just another day, or rather just another night like any other. And not only was he not enough of an arrogant, self-centered fool, but he also had been around for far too long as to delude himself into thinking otherwise. Throughout a thousand years on this earth he had realized a very long time ago, that in the greater scheme of things the pain and sorrows, the personal demons of one person, wouldn't cause the world to simply stop from turning, it wouldn't cause those around you to just drop everything to express their sympathy over your plights, your anguish... Your own world might have just been shattered into millions of tiny bits and pieces, jagged shards that were ceaselessly piercing through you without mercy; everything around you may have been plunged into utter darkness by your despair, and yet to any outsiders none of it would cause even so much as a ripple in their own lives. Perhaps it was a rather jaded point of view, but over the course of his endless life he had just seen far too much apathy in the face of true, palpable suffering and injustice than to expect that somehow his own troubles would warrant an exception to that simple fact of life. This was just the way it had always been, and it would always remain that way, believing anything else would only prove an utopian delusion. Yet even so, even though he had accepted this reality long ago, he couldn't deny that right about now he found it untypically difficult to not take this indifference, the ignorance of the people around him personal. To not feel bothered, angered by it. Then again, his current troubles weren't related to just anyone... It wasn't about his siblings, or about the drama that seemed to inevitably follow them wherever they went. This was about Katherine, it was about his Katerina. And although he usually was a master at keeping things in perspective, at keeping his emotions in check, she was just too important to him - she just meant far too much to him as that he could retain the same level of detachment, which he generally displayed even in the face of major crises, when it came to her. Truthfully, he was fully aware that Katerina had always been among his greatest weak spots - even far more so than his family ever had been, as throughout his long life no other had ever had such a strong, unbreakable hold on him as she did, and he had admittedly always found it hard to remain entirely rational where Katerina was concerned.

Which was why before long he left the busy streets of the Quarter, the crowds of people behind, unable to bear all this cheerfulness around him any longer, as it only seemed to mock him, standing in such stark contrast to his troubled state of mind.

Eventually Elijah found himself back at the plantation. On his way toward the entrance he briefly paused, frowning slightly in thought as he glanced at the building which currently lay in complete silence and darkness as Niklaus had reclaimed their former home in the French Quarter and they had all taken to staying there. Yet, he didn't mind. In fact this circumstance suited him quite well if he was honest, as right about now - with everything that was on his mind, with his troubled thoughts, he was in no state for having to deal with other people, let alone for having to face his siblings. Or Hayley for that matter. No, right now he felt like the solitude offered by the plantation might be just what he currently needed. Perhaps some time by himself, along with the quiet, would help him to collect himself, to clear his mind and try to make sense of what Rebekah had said. If nothing else, at least by staying at the plantation he won't have to put up with his siblings' constant bickering, which he knew he wouldn't be able to endure right about now.

A moment later he opened the door and made his way inside. While heading toward the sitting room he didn't bother turning any of the lights on, considering that being a vampire the lack of light was no hinderance to his vision, and he also had no interest in drawing attention to the fact he had returned to the mansion. When he entered the spacious room he started toward one of the couches, although he momentarily paused at the drink cart, pouring himself a glass of bourbon before he went to sit upon the couch. After sitting down he took a sip of his drink. Slowly lowering the glass after a moment he sighed, his brows knitting into a deep frown as his mind kept drifting back to Katerina, back to the question what to do about Rebekah's claims.

Following a long while during which he simply sat there on the couch, slowly sipping his drink, he eventually took his cell phone out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He set the glass aside, then dialed Katherine's number, waiting impatiently - almost anxiously even - through the ringing of the phone for her to answer his call. However, instead of Katherine he only reached her voicemail.

He was already about to hang up with the intention to try again later but then changed his mind, instead lifting the phone back up upon deciding to leave a message after all, "Katerina, it's me." he didn't really feel any need to announce himself by name, as he knew she would undoubtedly recognize his voice, "I know, by choosing to go to New Orleans I hurt you, and I can understand why you would be upset, why you may not wish to speak to me. I just need to know you are alright... Safe. So, please, do call me back when you get this." all the while he kept his voice perfectly even, giving him the appearance of being just as calm and collected as usual, while he was doing his best to keep his composure. Still, he couldn't quite mask a faint twinge of concern as he spoke. After a long pause Elijah took a deep breath, about to say more - to tell her how sorry he was for causing her pain yet again, for leaving her after he had promised her they would have a future with each other. To tell her just how much he loved her, how much he was missing her every single day, every single moment that they were apart... But then he didn't and hung up instead, briefly closing his eyes, his head dropping as he lowered the phone. As much as he wanted Katerina to know these things, he didn't want to tell her over the phone - let alone tell her in a recorded message left on her phone's voicemail. No, he wanted to tell her these things in person, preferably face to face. And aside from that, for now his true priority was to assure himself that at least she was okay - alive, safe... He supposed that accomplishing at least that much - ascertaining that Katherine was alive and safe, would have to suffice for the time being.

Releasing a heavy sigh he placed his phone down on the coffee table, before leaning back into the cushions of the couch for a moment, just tilting his head back and briefly closing his eyes.

After he opened his eyes again he simply continued to sit there, once more lost in his thoughts, slowly sipping the remnants of his drink. It was only when he had finished his bourbon that he moved, getting up to refill his glass. Yet, once he had poured himself another drink, he didn't sit back down, instead starting to pace through the spacious room as he just couldn't shake this sense of restlessness that had taken hold of him ever since his confrontation with his sister. Undoubtedly it was a result, a manifestation of his worry for Katerina, his uncertainty regarding whether to believe Rebekah, or not. But even being aware of the source of this unease, this anxiousness, did nothing to alleviate those feelings.

Initially he had been resolved to wait until the next day - until he would've had a chance to clear his mind, before he would try once more to reach Katherine, in part due to the possibility that she might call back once she received his message. However, eventually he reached for his cell phone, picking it back up as he found it impossible, _unbearable_ to just do nothing to determine Katherine's fate. One way or the other, he just _had to know_... And so he dialed her number once more. Yet with the same result; no answer. This time he didn't bother to leave a message. Still, he wouldn't be himself if he were to give up so easily, if failing initially were enough to dissuade him from trying again. After all, if it were that simple he would have given up on his family - on Niklaus, decades, perhaps even centuries ago, and would've just settled for finally living his life without all the drama, without all the unnecessary bloodshed. He would have put his own happiness first, he would have done everything to find Katherine sooner - he would have found a way to build a life with her... And none of this would have happened. If he had taken that path and had chosen Katherine over his family, he wouldn't have suddenly found himself in this situation, not knowing whether Katerina was even alive or not. But he simply wasn't the type to just give up, he never had been, and not even the many times his hopes had been disappointed had managed to change that. He sure as hell wouldn't start doing so now, he wouldn't start to just give up, especially not where Katherine was concerned. Which was why, after a few minutes, he tried her number once more.

When Katherine continued to not pick up her cell and also didn't call back herself, he eventually tried the number at her home in Richmond, where she had been staying when they had first reunited, when she had reached out to him after she had first heard of the cure. However, after only a few rings the call went to a recording telling him, "The number you have dialed is currently not in service. Please, check the number and try again." eliciting a heavy sigh from Elijah as he hung up.

Still pacing up and down in the living room, he kept trying to get in touch with Katherine, trying every single number he had for her multiple times. Always with the same result, either the call went to voicemail or he was told the number he was trying to reach was out of service. Or there was no answer at all, and the phone just kept on ringing. Yet, he didn't let this dissuade him, instead he continued to try. He wouldn't give up, he just couldn't... He kept telling himself - tried _convincing_ himself that Katherine's failure to answer any of his calls didn't mean anything. It didn't automatically mean that Rebekah had been telling him the truth and something had in fact happened to her, let alone that Katherine was dead. Frankly, it wouldn't really surprise him if she had simply changed her number, a habit he knew Katherine had developed throughout all the years she had been on the run from Klaus, just like he knew she usually didn't remain in one place for too long. ... He was also quite aware that by leaving - by electing yet again to put his family before Katerina, before their relationship even when they had finally been presented with a chance of building a life together, he had hurt her deeply. And he knew that Katherine could be rather stubborn, which meant it was also quite possible that she simply didn't wish to talk with him and therefore was ignoring his calls, in which case he might as well wait for her to call him back once she was more inclined to forgive him.

However, no matter how insistently he tried to reassure himself, regardless of how desperately he tried to cling to his belief - _hope_ that Katherine was alright, he just couldn't silence the doubts, the sheer panic nagging at the back of his mind. Which really was why he kept trying to reach her. Because it would only drive him completely mad to sit around, doing nothing, and just waiting for Katherine to hopefully call him back, or otherwise let him know she was okay. Not when every second, every minute that passed felt like a lifetime, ages... And so he kept trying and trying, occasionally taking a sip of bourbon.

A considerable while later he was just finishing his third drink as he tried once more Katherine's primary cell phone number, waiting for her to pick up. As the phone kept ringing he slowly lowered the now empty glass, frowning deeply. "Damnit, Katerina! Answer your damned phone." he grumbled under his breath, his voice almost a growl. It was hardly like him to curse as it stood in stark contrast to his well-mannered demeanor, which he prided himself on having retained to this day. But then again, this was anything but a typical evening - typical night. Truthfully, at this point he was on the verge of going out of his mind, his thoughts racing with his growing concerns for Katherine as he couldn't shake the fear that Rebekah's claims of her death could be true. When his call once again merely went to voicemail his brows knitted into a deep scowl and in a burst of frustration he flung his phone at the wall, watching indifferently as the device shattered upon hitting the wall, the pieces landing scattered on the ground.

He took a deep, unsteady breath then and momentarily closed his eyes, running a hand over his face as he did his best to calm himself and regain at least some measure of composure, before he eventually sank back down on the couch.

He simply remained sitting there, all but motionless, as the hours passed and dawn approached, his head in his hands, not knowing what to do. Which was yet another thing he wasn't accustomed to. Usually he had little trouble to think of a solution, or at least some course of action, to resolve a problem at hand, all but effortlessly keeping a clear head even when faced with considerably dire circumstances. But now... Now he was just at a complete loss, too wrapped up in - too overwhelmed by his thoughts, his _emotions_. All he could truly think of was Katherine, the possibility that he may have lost her. That he might never see her again. The mere thought was unbearable to him, and he knew - if what Rebekah had told him was in fact true, if Katerina was lost to him, it wouldn't merely break his heart ... it would utterly destroy him.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:**_ _Thanks for reading, I do hope you guys like the story so far. Obviously, feedback would be appreciated as I love hearing people's thoughts, so it would be awesome if you could take a moment to leave a review. :) Just no flames, please.  
The next installment of the story will be posted next weekend, so keep an eye out for that. As for the final chapter, I'm still working on it, with hopes of finishing it to post the week after next, but I can't make any promises as I'm stuck in a semi-writer's block state these days it seems._


	2. Part II: Confrontations

**_Author's Notes:_ **_First of, thanks to to anyone who read part 1, particularly the people who put this story on their favorite & follow lists! :) As promised, here's part two. Enjoy reading!_

* * *

 **Shattered**

 _~oOo Part II: Confrontations oOo~_

Several days had passed during which Elijah barely ventured out of the mansion at the plantation estate. In fact he had only left the house once, early on the day after his argument with Rebekah, and ultimately the only reason why he had done so had been to replace his - quite literally - broken phone. After all, Katherine would have a difficult time calling him back, if he couldn't be reached under the number he had given her to get in contact with him, just because he had chosen to let his frustration out on the phone. So, he had gone to acquire a new cell phone and upon returning to the plantation he had simply put the SIM card of his previous phone into the new one, as it was the easiest way to ensure he would continue to receive any calls made to that number.

He had received a few calls from his siblings and Hayley, but he had elected not to answer any of them, nor did he bother to listen to the messages they had left him. However, so far he hadn't heard anything from Katherine. Not even so much as a text. And quite truthfully the waiting was driving him crazy, but still he had so far done his best to refrain from calling her again. After all, he knew that, if Katerina was in fact still upset over him leaving and therefore ignoring his calls, it would do him no good to keep calling. He would just have to wait until she was in a more forgiving mood. ... Perhaps he actually deserved going through all this anguish, the uncertainty and fear. Perhaps this was his punishment for hurting Katherine again, for breaking his word - for breaking her heart again.

For a while he had simply continued to sit on the couch, trying not to think too much. Yet with very little success. He just couldn't get Katerina off his mind. Then again, how was he supposed to stop thinking about her - to stop worrying about her, when she meant the world to him? It was simply impossible. And it wasn't just the question of whether Rebekah had told him the truth - the question whether Katerina might have in fact died, which haunted him. There were so many memories occupying his mind. Memories of their time together back in England. Of their reunion not even a full year ago. All the wonderful moments they had shared with each other, both back in England as well as after they had finally been reunited. Yet, he also remembered all the years apart from her after the events in 1492, how hard it had been to be without her for so long. He could hardly imagine going through anything like that again, having to face living without her... It had already been beyond painful to make the choice to part from her in the first place. Every day since then, every day apart from her had been all but agonizing. So, how on Earth was he supposed to endure having to spend the rest of his endless life without her!?

He did his best to push those dark thoughts aside, but as much as he tried to stop thinking about it - as much as he still wanted to believe that Katherine was okay, he couldn't deny that his hopes of that in fact being the case were dwindling away with every passing day, every passing hour that he didn't hear back from her. And as his doubts grew, so did his fear of having lost the girl he had loved for more than half a millennium. Yet, admittedly his doubts weren't just rooted in Katherine's failure to respond to any of his calls so far, but also in the fact that he knew his sister... The fact that regardless of how much he might want to cast her claims aside as spiteful lies, aimed at causing him pain, in the end he simply couldn't truly convince himself of it. After all, as rash and impulsive as Rebekah could be when upset, hurt by the actions of one of her brothers, Elijah had never known her to lash out in such harsh fashion in response to any of their perceived wrong-doings. Such disproportionate cruelty always had been Niklaus's way of retaliating, not just against outsiders but even against their own family. Their half-brother may have stooped to such lows as to claim Katerina had perished, simply so he could enjoy seeing the pain those news would inflict upon him, but Rebekah? Never! He simply knew that, no matter how angry and frustrated she might be, his little sister would never go that far just to get even. She wouldn't even do such thing to Niklaus, let alone to him. Yet more to the point, as to why he just couldn't truly make himself believe that she had been lying, was that - even if she were inclined to wilfully inflict such pain on him, there was just no way Rebekah would ever possibly do so by fabricating such a preposterous tale as the one she had told him! Rebekah simply knew him too well as that she would ever think it possible he would believe her, if she claimed that somehow Elena or one of her friends could've gotten the better of Katherine, let alone that Katherine had died - and of old age, no less! So, why would his sister claim as much, when she knew full well how absolutely absurd and unbelievable it sounded? When she knew he would never believe her? She simply wouldn't, plain and simple. That was, unless it was in fact the truth... Which was why, as much as he tried to cling to his hopes - his almost desperate wish to believe Rebekah had lied, in the end he knew better than to actually do so.

And what little of his hope he had managed to hold on to had soon all but evaporated following the conversation he'd had with Niklaus, when his brother had shown up uninvitedly at the plantation the day before.

 _He was once more sitting on the couch in the living room, now looking over pictures of Katherine, a bottle of bourbon standing upon the coffee table along with a half-full glass from which he drank every once in a while. As focused as he was on the photographes and drawings in front of him, he didn't hear his brother's approach until Klaus's voice rang through the air, "Ah, there you are, Elijah. Don't you ever answer your phone anymore?"_

 _Despite hearing the irritation in his brother's voice Elijah didn't bother acknowledging his remark - or even Klaus's presence. In fact he didn't even so much as glance up from the pictures he was looking at. Yet even without seeing his brother's face, he was aware that undoubtedly Klaus was scowling in annoyance as he was speaking._

 _"Have you already forgotten the mysteriously resurrected warlock who just came after us, which just happened to coincide with the failed Reaping?" Klaus was continuing, not actually waiting for any response from him anyways, "Four Harvest girls were supposed to be resurrected; none of them came back. Instead Papa Tunde miraculously returned from the dead, eager to get revenge because we killed him and his twin sons. He's still out there, in all probability along with another three witches resurrected in the Harvest girls' stead. And yet, instead of helping me get rid of this rather obvious threat, you have nothing better to do than sitting around here, staring at pictures!"_

 _Still not looking up Elijah didn't interject throughout his brother's rant. Even when Klaus had finished talking he continued his silence for another few long moments. When he eventually spoke he didn't comment on his brother's complaints, instead wanting -_ _demanding_ _to know, "When were you going to tell me, Niklaus!?" There was a notable edge to his voice, an anger and hostility he kept carefully contained. While he was speaking he finally looked up at Klaus, his expression set into a barely masked glare._

 _For the briefest moment Elijah half expected his brother to play dumb, that Klaus would pretend he had no clue what he was talking about. But then Klaus apparently thought better of it, perhaps simply because, given his mood along with the various pictures of Katherine upon the coffee table, it was fairly obvious what his question was referring to. Instead Klaus scoffed darkly, "Rebekah just couldn't keep her mouth shut, could she?" his face darkening slightly as he shook his head with obvious annoyance._

 _Again Klaus didn't wait for a response, and at any rate his remark had obviously really been a mere observation, not an actual question, considering that undoubtedly he was perfectly aware that, if Elijah knew about Katherine's fate, their sister must have been the one who had told him. Giving another irritated shake of his head, Klaus pointed out with utter indifference, "So, the harlot is dead, what of it? I hardly see how it's relevant, or why Rebekah just_ _had_ _to tell you. It's not as if Katerina hadn't had it coming for the past five centuries. If you ask me, good riddance to her, it was about goddamned time!" while speaking his voice took on a derisive edge, an almost smug smirk appearing upon his face as he continued, "Frankly, I'm rather surprised that you even care about Katerina's death, though. After all, with how you just can't take your eyes off of Hayley and have been chasing after her since we got here, I had admittedly thought you'd finally come to your senses and had moved on from your foolish infatuation with that wretched strumpet. But, in any case, at least you already have a shoulder to cry on after this_ _devastating_ _loss. I'm sure, Hayley will enjoy to finally have your full and undivided attention now that Katerina is once and for all out of the picture." toward the end the smirk upon Klaus's face widened, growing more smug and even outright menacing, the gleeful glint in his eyes becoming notably more pronounced._

 _As his brother spoke Elijah's eyes flashed dangerously, his whole body tensing with not just furious anger but also shock and pain - grief. Admittedly, ultimately Klaus was merely confirming what deep down he had already known but hadn't wanted to believe. He just hadn't been able to acknowledge, let alone accept the possibility that Katherine could be dead. Instead he had stubbornly quieted - ignored that nagging voice of awareness in his mind, even as with every passing moment he had felt that painful truth weigh more heavily upon him, until it was all but crushing him. Yet, no matter how much he might have tried to deny it, to turn a blind eye to it, it didn't change anything. No matter how desperately he wanted to believe otherwise, he couldn't just keep running from the facts, from what deep down he could tell was the truth. ... Katerina was gone. Still, in the end the fact that he had already known as much didn't make it any less painful to find his fears confirmed. Especially as Klaus's all too typical vicious demeanor, his taunts, only served to worsen the impact of what he had told him._

 _And something inside of him just snapped with the sheer, all but blinding rage surging through him. The last few words had barely left Klaus's lips when Elijah already punched him hard into the face, then slammed him into the closest wall, his right hand grasping the front of Klaus's henley in a chokehold. Yet it wasn't just Klaus's derisive tone, the fact how obviously his half-brother was gloating about Katherine's death, that set him off. To an equal, or perhaps even greater part his anger was rooted in the realization that, if he truly paused to think about it, he couldn't help but blame Klaus for what had happened to Katerina. After all, the only reason why he had come to New Orleans - why he had parted from Katerina, had been to help Klaus, to protect Klaus's unborn child! Even though his brother had outright denied him his request to pardon Katherine and therefore the chance to find happiness, any chance to be with the one he loved... And how had Klaus thanked him for his continued loyalty!? He had betrayed him less than twenty-four hours after he had decided to stay in New Orleans, daggering him and handing him over to Marcel! Further adding to his seething rage were Rebekah's words from the other night - her taunting remark that Katherine must have reached out to him after she had become human, which were still echoing through his mind. Although his sister may have merely made that almost taunting quip to further deepen the impact of her revelation, it didn't change that ultimately he knew she was right... He knew Katherine, after all, and no matter how angry, how hurt she may have been when he had elected to leave her again, once again putting his family before their relationship, he just couldn't imagine that she won't have tried to get in touch with him, considering that he was one of the very few people - perhaps the only one, she had truly trusted. He was the one person she would have turned to for help and he knew better than to believe for even a second that, even if Katherine may have otherwise never wanted to see him or speak to him again, her hurt feelings or pride would have ever prevented her from reaching out to him for help if she was in trouble, let alone in actual danger. After all, he knew that, no matter what other things might define her, first and foremost Katerina was a fighter, a survivor - she would always do whatever was necessary for her to save herself, to survive... Which was why he just couldn't banish the nagging suspicion, the instinctual awareness that, if Katerina had tried to contact him, it had undoubtedly been shortly after her run-in with Elena - she wouldn't have just waited around, knowing how vulnerable she was as a mortal, knowing of the danger this development put her in given how many enemies she had._

 _But her calls - any attempts she may have made to get in touch with him had been in vain, because he had been incapacitated, lying in a coffin with a dagger in his heart._

 _It was the only explanation why he hadn't heard from her after their parting. Because there was one thing Rebekah had definitely been wrong about; no matter how preoccupied he may have been with trying to keep Hayley and her unborn child safe, there just was no way he would have ever let anything prevent him from helping Katerina if she needed him! Nor would he have failed to react if she had contacted him. He would have undoubtedly been susceptible to her calls, already because, as much as he had tried to remain focused on the task at hand, there hadn't passed a single day since his arrival in New Orleans that he hadn't hoped to hear from Katerina, that he hadn't hoped to hear her voice..._

 _It truly was that realization which ultimately fueled the furious anger coursing through him right now, the fact that through his underhanded actions Niklaus had made it impossible for Katherine to reach him in time and therefore had prevented him from being able to help her. Granted, there was no way for him to be sure whether he could have actually helped her - saved her, but at least he could have tried to, if he had known what was going on. Perhaps, one could argue, that his brother couldn't have possibly known at that point in time what would happen to Katerina after they had left for New Orleans, that there hadn't been any way Klaus could have known of the repercussions his betrayal would have. But in the end it had been Klaus who - through his cruelty, through his refusal to let Katerina be - had forced him to leave her in the first place. And if all this weren't enough, even once Klaus had found out what had happened to Katherine his blind hatred toward her had led him to hide this information from him. More to the point, Elijah was perfectly aware that unlike Rebekah, who may have initially kept what had happened to Katherine from him simply to spare him the pain, the same could not be said for Klaus. On the contrary. He knew his half-brother too well as not to realize that his secrecy was rooted in far less benevolent reasons, that it hadn't been mere neglect on his brother's part. Klaus had kept the knowledge of Katerina's fate from him simply so he could use it to his advantage as he saw fit, undoubtedly fully intending to wait with revealing the devastating news until just when it suited his schemes best; which ultimately meant the next time Niklaus was displeased with him and sought to retaliate by causing him pain. It was through all his selfish actions, and most notably through the selfish choice to keep him in the dark, that Klaus had deprived him of any chance he may have otherwise had to find a way to save Katerina, or to even get a chance to say goodbye to her and - even more importantly - to be there for her in those final moments._

 _And deep down he knew that this was one thing, one transgression, for which he would never forgive Klaus. Regardless of all of his brother's misdeeds over the past centuries which he had been willing to look past, this was just something he could not forgive. Nor was he willing to even consider doing so. Not ever!_

 _Still glaring he willed himself to compose himself and slowly released his grip from Klaus's shirt while he told him darkly, "Get out of my sight, Niklaus!" emphasizing each word as he spoke, which only made the anger in his voice more pronounced, giving his demand a threatening edge..._

For a long few moments they had kept standing there in silence, their eyes locked in equally angry glares as if they were trying to stare the other one down. However, eventually it had been Klaus who had looked away first, briefly dropping his gaze. After a moment Klaus had looked back up, sending another defiant scowl in Elijah's direction, then he had pushed past his older brother and had all but stormed out of the room, slamming the front door shut as he left. Now, the following day, Elijah was standing by one of the back windows in the living room, glancing out at the garden, when the sound of approaching steps, the clicking of heels, eventually caused him to snap out of his reverie, out of his dark thoughts. However, he didn't move to see who it was, as he admittedly didn't really care. All he really wanted right about now was for everyone to just leave him alone already; for his siblings and everybody else to just let him grieve the loss of Katerina in peace!

Soon the clicking of the footsteps reached the sitting room, the person slowing down slightly upon entering the room. Only a brief moment later he felt someone's gaze coming to rest on him and heard Hayley's familiar voice, "Elijah, finally! What's going on? You don't answer your phone, you don't call back... I've been looking for you and trying to call you for days!" while she was speaking the footsteps stopped as she came to a halt; in the center of the room he guessed without actually checking. "I was starting to get worried, thinking Klaus had used one of those daggers on you again or might have done some other nasty thing to you." she continued, the faintest trace of an accusation over him just dropping off the face of the earth without a word in her voice, yet he could also hear a notable edge of concern. Her eyes were still lingering on him, or more specifically boring into his back as he hadn't moved so far to turn and look at her.

"I am not in the mood for company, Hayley." Elijah pointed out, not commenting or otherwise reacting to what she had said, the concern she had expressed for him, before turning for the briefest moment to look at her, his face an unreadable mask, as he added, "I thought I had made that clear when Niklaus was here yesterday." He then turned his attention back toward the window, once again looking outside with little actual interest as to what he was seeing.

He could hear Hayley sigh lowly at what he told her, the fact that although he wasn't saying it quite that directly he was basically telling her to leave - pushing her away quite obviously. She started to walk again, though her movements now seemed almost a bit hesitant, perhaps having finally picked up on his mood, and after only a few steps into his direction she stopped once more. She sighed again before she broke the tense silence that had started to build between them, "Listen, Elijah... I know, I betrayed your trust and I can understand how upset you must have been. But you can't really just continue to stay mad at me for all of time. _I really am sorry_ for what I did, and you have my word that I will never do anything like that again. I promise. I just... Please, can't we start to move past this?" toward the end her voice cracked ever so slightly from her emotions - her almost desperate wish that things could be alright between them again, like before, and she fell silent, another sigh, this one considerably more heavy, escaping her.

While he listened he eventually turned fully toward the young werewolf, raising a brow as he regarded her with a long glance, "You really think this is about you, about you betraying my trust?" He couldn't quite stop himself from scoffing lowly, giving a disbelieving shake of his head at the arrogance, the self-centered sentiment her words implied. Looking back up at her face he stated matter-of-factly, "It may come as a surprise to you, Hayley, but not everything in my life revolves around you. In fact, as it so happens this has _absolutely nothing_ to do with you, or the fact that you elected to invade my privacy to aid Sophie's plans." and while his voice didn't actually rise and in fact remained calm as he spoke, he couldn't quite keep a faint trace of irritation from lacing his words. Granted, he was aware that Hayley's apology was in fact sincere, that she truly did regret her actions, but as he had told her the other night after they had witnessed Sophie's attempt to complete the Harvest ritual; it just wasn't that simple. With how much he valued not just promises, both the ones he gave to others as well as those made to him, but also honesty and loyalty, he couldn't just look past - let alone simply forget her betrayal. Especially as she could have, _should have_ known better after the time they had spent with each other these past few months, after the glimpses she had gained of his mind. Or after reading his journals for that matter. It also didn't exactly help the situation that Hayley had attempted to brush the whole thing off on account of the mere fact that Céleste had already been dead for over two centuries, as if her death automatically made his connection and promise to her less significant, less relevant. Which, as he had tried to explain to Hayley that night, simply wasn't the case, at least not for him. Not when he knew first hand just how rare actual love was, and he himself had in fact only found real love twice in over a thousand years. Like he had implied to Hayley, his love once given, was given forever and not even death could erase that bond. Yet, what he had not shared with Hayley was that he hadn't been speaking of Céleste then. Rather he had been referring to Tatia, his first real love and the love of his human life, and Katerina, who despite all the years they had been forced to be apart had truly held his heart ever since he had met her in England. She really had been the true love of his life as vampire. Still, Céleste had been - and would always remain, important to him, special. In part this was already because unlike his siblings he had always been very guarded with his feelings, being reluctant to care about people outside their family in general and it was very rare for him to form any attachments beyond his siblings at all. He was even more hesitant to form romantic attachments, and while he'd had other lovers after Katerina aside from Céleste there had been not many of them. In fact he could count them on one hand, simply due to the fact that he just wasn't the kind of man to sleep with a woman he did not actually care about. Yet more importantly there was also the fact that in the end he had never stopped loving Katerina, the lingering ache of being apart from her having remained ever present within him. Céleste had been the first woman in over two centuries whom he had eventually allowed himself to care about. She may not have actually taken Katherine's place within his heart, but he had still loved her and being with her he had in fact found at least a semblance of the happiness he had shared with Katerina in England. In addition his promise of ensuring that Céleste would be left in peace after her death was also of even greater importance to him, because he hadn't been able to prevent her untimely death in the first place.

But all that was beside the point right about now. In fact currently just about everything around him, all the recent events in New Orleans, were all but negligibile for him in light of the fact that he had just lost Katerina. And at any rate thinking of Céleste, the fact that he hadn't been able to save her all those years ago, only served to inevitably steer his thoughts right back to his current troubles, to the fact that once again he had lost someone he cared deeply about - someone he loved, because he had been unable to protect them. Yet Katherine's death weighed exponentially more heavily upon him, as she had meant so much more to him than anyone else ever had since his human life had ended and he had lost his first love.

Which ultimately was the actual reason for his wish - his _need_ for solitude; not the recent rift between him and Hayley. He was just in way too much pain as that he would have any capacity or patience to worry about the problems of those around him, whether it were Klaus's schemes or Rebekah's complaints of being slighted by her brothers. More to the point, he certainly was in no state as to deal with his siblings' constant bickering. Or, for that matter, with Hayley's contrition over her recent actions and her hopes of reconciling with him. In fact having to deal with the young werewolf's visit and her subsequent nagging was quite truthfully just about the last thing he needed right now. The truth was that, as much as he had come to genuinely care about Hayley over the course of the past few months, her recent behavior and actions - her desperate attempts to absolve herself from whatever guilt she felt over betraying his trust, were considerably grating on his nerves and at this moment in time he admittedly couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance, brought forth by her automatically making his withdrawal from everyone about herself.

With all that considered he felt a sense of relief when Hayley, contrary to what he had expected, didn't protest or argue in response to what he had just said, and he already almost allowed himself to think that she had accepted his request and would now take her leave. However, instead he found himself faced with having to adress a subject he wished even less to discuss with her than Céleste as just then Hayley's gaze landed on the pictures still lying on the coffee table. "Wait, you and _Katherine_!?" she asked incredulously, her voice rising slightly both in volume as well as in pitch and her brows knitting into a deep, disbelieving frown as she reached for one of the photographes and picked it up.

Meanwhile Elijah had started walking toward the young woman, but he came to a halt when she noticed the pictures and reached out for them, a frown appearing on his own face. Even without actually seeing the picture in her hands he knew which one it was; one of the only photographes of him and Katherine together... The picture had been taken at a classy upscale nightclub where he had taken Katherine to dance after they had been out for dinner one evening. It showed them dancing, with him just lifting Katerina from a dip and drawing her close towards him, both of them smiling happily, completely absorbed - lost, in one another's presence. There was another photo which had been taken that night, in fact just a few mere moments later, of them sharing a wistful kiss; though apparently Hayley hadn't noticed that one, being too focused on the picture that had caught her attention. A circumstance he was rather grateful for, considering that with Hayley's reaction to the picture that she _was_ looking at he could vividly imagine the drama that would ensue if she had instead picked up the other one. Admittedly, with how private a person he was, such public displays of affection as the photographes showed were quite unusal for him, but Katherine had always been his exception to everything. She had always been the one and only person who could cause his carefully crafted and well-maintained walls of self-control to slip away, causing them to just crumble down in pieces. Almost right from the start, already shortly after he had met Katerina back in England, he had found it difficult to exert the same restraint he usually displayed, when he was in her presence. What was more, with Katerina he didn't actually mind to let his guard down, to show that more gentle and affectionate side of himself. Still, when she had shown him the photos he had for the briefest moment felt a sense of, perhaps not actual anger but at least a trace of mild annoyance or irritation at this invasion of their privacy. Yet ultimately he had, for the most part, been surprised. Granted, he had known that there had been a photographer around that night, taking pictures for an article to be featured in some fancy lifestyle magazin or something along those lines, but he hadn't been aware that they had also photographed him and Katherine.

As Hayley was speaking Elijah's expression hardened, not caring much for her tone, especially right about now, this rather absurd outrage she chose to display at the mere notion that there was a connection - let alone deep rooted feelings, _love_ , between him and Katherine Pierce. "Yes, Katerina and I. As a matter of fact, I have loved her for over five centuries. I love her to this day." he told her, his tone measured as he looked her squarely in the eyes. Yet even as calm as his voice was, as he continued speaking there still was a subtle sharpness, a coldness to his words that could cut right through you and chill you all the way to your very core, "Although I would have expected you already knew as much, having read my journals, after all." With that he pointedly took the picture from Hayley's hand, his gaze lingering for the briefest moment upon it as he couldn't silence the memories of that night - of how happy they had been then, which were washing over him at the sight. Along with the memory of the day Katherine had given him the photographes when he'd had to part from her for a while to take care of some business matters. She had told him, that way she would always be with him... He hadn't been all that surprised that, unlike him, Katherine _had_ noticed the photographer as he knew how aware she usually - actually always, was of her surroundings. It had mildly surprised him though, that she had taken the time to track the photographer down and acquire copies of the pictures they had taken of them. At first the gesture had admittedly struck him as untypically sentimental coming from her, but that hadn't negated how deeply he had appreciated it all the same that she had done so. Particularly after he had left for New Orleans, not knowing when he would get to see her again. ... He appreciated the gesture even more deeply now. Now that, as it had turned out, he never would see her again. As that realization flickered through his mind once again he felt a stab of agonizing pain coursing through him. He knew that, in the end, Katerina had been perfectly aware that he did not need any pictures to remind him of her, to make him feel like she was with him. After all, she already was with him all the time considering that since he had first met her there hadn't passed a single day without him thinking of her. Especially when he had been apart from her.

Even as caught up as he was in his troubles, his pain, he didn't miss how while he was speaking Hayley's face fell ever so slightly when he professed his feelings for Katherine. A circumstance which brought once again to his mind Rebekah accusing him the other night of having feelings for Hayley, causing him to forsake Katherine because of this supposed attraction. Reminding him of how Klaus had voiced similar suspicions more than once since Davina had released him, which had even caused his half-brother to leave him poisoned in the bayou out of sheer paranoia, harboring the absurd notion that Elijah would end up taking his place in his child's life...

Elijah could see why his siblings, and perhaps even Hayley herself, may have come to think that he had developed some level of romantic interest in her. He also realized that admittedly he had done little to nothing in order to dispel their assumptions, or to discourage Hayley from reading more into his kindness than there really was to it. Perhaps he had even - albeit unintentionally, fueled that notion with how much of his attention he had been focusing on Hayley since his and Klaus's arrival in New Orleans. And while he had never intended to give the impression of having anything beyond a platonic interest in Hayley, he would have to admit that it hadn't been merely kindness that had driven him to pay so much attention to her, to spend so much time and effort trying to help her and be there for her. The truth was, focusing his attention on Hayley, along with doing his best to aid Klaus despite his betrayal had been a welcome distraction after he had found himself forced to part from Katerina once again for the sake of his family. Since their parting he had been actively doing his best not to think too much about her. It had just pained him too much to think of her, about the last time he had seen her. To remember the hurt and heartbreak he had seen in her eyes after he had kissed her goodbye... Yet in the end, as hard as he had tried, ultimately his attempts had been all but futile as Katerina still had always been in his thoughts, even if it was merely the nagging voice of his guilty conscience in the back of his mind which he just hadn't been able to quiet. In addition, he had also been quite aware that, if he truly allowed himself to pause and think about Katherine; about what he had given up for the sake of helping Niklaus, his resolve to stay in New Orleans would undoubtedly start to waver and crumble away. And he just couldn't allow that to happen. After all, he had given his word to Hayley to protect her and her unborn child. Plus, there would always be Niklaus... Elijah was perfectly aware that his brother would have never permitted him to just leave. Especially not for Katerina. Driven by his sheer hatred Klaus would have never permitted him to find happiness with Katherine, that much he had made perfectly clear back in Mystic Falls, while Rebekah had been attending her senior prom hoping to convince him to give her the cure so she could become human. Not only had Klaus outright denied his request to finally set his vendetta against Katherine aside and grant him a chance at happiness, but his brother had gone so far as to vow that should Elijah in fact refuse to give the cure to him, he would make it his eternal cause to make him suffer for it. By hunting down Katherine and at long last take his revenge in killing her. The subject of the cure may have become moot that same night due to Silas's trickery, but Elijah had no doubts or illusions that this circumstance wouldn't have negated Klaus's threat. He simply knew his brother far too well as that he would, even for a second, believe Klaus wouldn't have still made good on his threat to harm Katerina if he had acted contrary to his wishes in some other instance. Such as leaving New Orleans to build a life with her.

At any rate, the fact remained that while he could undoubtedly see what others would find appealing about Hayley such as her obvious beauty, but also her intelligent and caring nature and fierce confidence, he himself had no romantic interest in her. Already because she was going to have Klaus's child. Which was among the main reasons why, even if he weren't irrevocably in love with Katerina, he neither could nor would ever see more in Hayley than what she was to him right now; a friend, an extension of his family... And he supposed that, although he hardly wanted to get into any of this right about now, he probably ought to finally clear up this matter, once and for all. After all, clearly Hayley had started to develop feelings for, or at least an attraction towards him and while he would rather not have to deal with this at the current moment in time he also didn't want to end up leading her unintentionally on.

Momentarily lowering his gaze as he ran a hand over his face, he took a slow, deep breath while considering the situation at hand. As he slowly released the breath in a low sigh he looked back up at the young werewolf, weighing his words carefully as he eventually broke the silence that had fallen between them, "Hayley... I care about you, but as a _friend_. To me you are a part of the family, and I will protect you like I promised you. Just as I have done, and always will do my best to protect my siblings. I am sorry if I misled you somehow, but there will never be more than a friendship between you and me." he told her, admittedly not without a trace of wariness and apprehension as he currently had bigger concerns than Hayley's apparent feelings for him, "I _love_ Katherine. The only reason why I parted from her was that my family needed, and still needs, me here in New Orleans and I knew, given Klaus's hatred of her, she would never be safe here. I did not leave her because my feelings for her would have changed." and although he didn't outright say it, his voice made it perfectly clear that he always would love Katerina. His voice also betrayed with equal clarity the regret he now felt over making the choice to leave her, the grief and guilt that haunted him over her death.

If he'd had any lingering doubts before that Hayley had hoped there to be more between them than a platonic, albeit close, connection her reaction to what he had just said would have taught him otherwise. Although he had, despite his current state of mind, tried his best to avoid being harsh about it as he didn't wish to cause her undue pain, the hurt now flashing clearly through Hayley's eyes could not have been more pronounced had he slapped her right into the face. Yet he also saw a trace of anger flicker over her face, her posture tensing slightly - undoubtedly in response to his rejection, and pursing her lips, almost defiantly, she demanded to know, "So, what? This whole time you've been so nice and _chivalrous_ toward me, I was just a little something on the side for you, to toy with while being apart from Katherine!? And now you seriously have the nerve to try and tell me that this thing between us was supposedly just in my head!?" She scoffed giving a shake of her head, her hands curling up at her sides in anger, and an almost venomous edge slipped into her voice as she snapped at him, "If you really love her so much, how come you never even so much as mentioned her this whole damned time!? Not even that day in the bayou! You made such a big deal out of Céleste and yet you didn't mention Katherine with even a single syllable!"

At what she said Elijah's expression set into a deep frown, showing the faintest trace of irritation as his patience now truly began to run thin, "Do not mistake me for Niklaus, Hayley. I do not toy with people, or their feelings. The fact that you would even read such unsavory motives into the kindness I displayed toward you, only proves to show how little you actually know me. There is no _thing_ between you and me. As I already told you, I was being kind to you, because I have come to consider you part of my family. I simply tried to be there for you, as a friend. Which, however, does not automatically entitle you to any knowledge of my personal life. Especially as by now you ought to have started to realize just how much I value my privacy. Which is also precisely why I did not tell you about Katerina; because it is none of your business, Hayley." he pointed out to her, his own voice even now still remaining remarkably calm, the hardening of his expression being the only real indication of his rising anger. Undoubtedly, had this been anyone else than Hayley, who was after all pregnant with Klaus's child, he would have reacted far more harshly to her words as her accusations not only offended but also wounded him deeply. After all, she wasn't just implying that he would have taken advantage of her, but also that he would have betrayed Katerina, and particularly the latter of which struck a painful nerve within him in light of the recent revelation of Katherine's death.

He briefly remained silent, taking a breath and willing himself to retain his composure. When he spoke again he told her, "Now would you, _please_ , be so kind and leave. I wish to be alone." his voice now stern as he reiterated his request to be left alone, yet his tone still wasn't unkind despite the circumstances.

For a long moment Hayley remained standing where she was and it almost looked as if she were going to argue about leaving. However, eventually she sighed, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly and without another word she turned on her heels and strode out of the room. Releasing a quiet, yet still heavy sigh, Elijah briefly glanced after her before turning his attention back to the pictures on the coffee table, a frown on his face. He didn't pay attention to the fading sound of Hayley's footsteps as she made her way out of the mansion, or to the sound of the door opening and closing, which would follow soon enough.

As he moved to sink down on the couch it crossed his mind that perhaps he had been unduly harsh just now, but he just couldn't bring himself to care about that or anything else at this moment in time. There was just too much pain coursing through him, the all but agonizing grief threatening to consume him while he couldn't stop thinking of his beloved Katerina. Of the last time he had seen her. All the things he had hoped for, all he had envisioned their life, their future could be if only they could procure her freedom from Klaus's wretched vendetta against her. If they could only find the right time... For over five hundred years he had been so sure that eventually they would finally have a chance to be together. Even during all those years they had been apart he had never lost that hope, that faith. He had never given up his belief he would find her, that he would get a chance to prove to her how much she meant to him, how much he loved her. His belief that they could find happiness. And now all of that was lost to him, to them. Katherine had been torn from him yet again. Forever. Irrevocably. It reminded him all too harshly of all the previous times he had failed her. Of how he had, selfishly, kept the truth about his family, about Klaus's intentions - about _himself_ from her back in England all those years ago. How he had turned his back on her when Katherine had fled, forcing her to take the only path she had seen to save herself by becoming a vampire. How he had let Klaus slaughter her family, and hunt her for centuries. Of how, when they had finally been reunited not even a full year ago, he had vowed they would finally be together - only to leave her again. And now he hadn't even been there for her when she would have needed him the most, when she had been _dying_!

No, instead of at least being there for her now - instead of trying to find a way to save Katerina he had been here in New Orleans, never even knowing that she would have needed his help. All just because he had left her again for the sake of a brother who had betrayed him barely more than a few hours after he had made that difficult choice. Sure, he'd had reasons for making the choice he had made, reasons that had made sense to him at the time. However, now that he knew what had happened to Katerina after they had parted from each other, none of those things really seemed like valid enough reason for what he had done. Now it just felt like he had merely done the _easy_ thing, the thing he had always done - putting his family first, before anything and anyone else, even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness. Of course, it had been a painful choice for him to make, one he had struggled with, but it was what he had always done, for over a thousand years and in the end continuing this familiar habit of putting his family first had been easier than to break with it. He had told himself that going with Niklaus to New Orleans was the right thing to do, that it was what he _had_ to do. Not just for the sake of his family, but also to ensure Katerina's safety, to ensure that Niklaus wouldn't make good on his recent threats against her. And admittedly there had also been a part of him that had perhaps foolishly hoped, if he helped his brother to acquire what he wanted - if he helped him to regain control of his former kingdom, that perhaps Klaus would be inclined to reconsider his decision to insist on continuing his vendetta against Katerina. That perhaps Niklaus would, for a change, show a sliver of mercy and finally grant him a real chance at happiness.

He had fully intended to return to Katerina once things in New Orleans were settled. He had believed, had been _convinced_ that he would find her again. That he would have an eternity to make things right, to make it up to her that he had left. He had been convinced that once Niklaus was satisfied he himself would be free to pursue his own wishes, his hopes - that he would be finally free to be with Katerina and build a life with her, a future with her. Not for even a second would he have imagined that by making the choice to leave her and help Klaus, he would lose any chance to ever have any of those things. That this time he would end up truly losing Katerina.

And the agonizing pain and grief, the guilt and regret haunting him over leaving Katerina yet again, over having lost her, was outright killing him! Already he could feel himself spiraling out of control, could feel that he was losing himself in his dispair. He was well aware that since he had first been confronted with the possibility of having lost Katherine, he had begun to drink far more than he would under normal circumstances, more than he would actually consider acceptable. He knew that he neither fed nor slept enough. He was aware that he probably looked like hell, his usually flawless appearance becoming more disheveled every day. But he just didn't care. And even if he were to in fact care, he wouldn't know where to even begin with trying to put himself back together, nor did he think he actually had the strength to do so right about now.

Still he would go on, somehow... Even if it was merely because he had no other choice. After all, he and his siblings couldn't die. Nothing could kill them except the white oak stake, which he had returned to Niklaus. Perhaps foolishly, one could argue. Elijah was well aware that Klaus would sooner put a dagger in his heart again rather than allowing him to die, already simply due to Niklaus's need for control. But even more so because, no matter how deep the rift between any of them may have grown over the years, not even Klaus would ever want any of them to actually die, to lose any of them that irrevocably. There was, after all, a reason why Klaus had kept even Finn around for all those centuries, admittedly daggered and locked away in a box, but still perfectly safe from any potential harm. Although he found it sometimes almost impossible to truly believe, especially at this point in time when his half-brother was so obviously relishing to see him suffer the way he had since learning of Katherine's death; Elijah knew that in the end Klaus did love them. In his own twisted way. And even in the purely hypothetical event that he could in fact acquire the white oak stake, or find another way to end his now truly meaningless existence, ultimately he knew he simply won't be able to do it. No matter how agonizing it was for him, having to even imagine a life without Katerina - let alone live without her, he simply couldn't abandon his family. For better or worse, his sense of family loyalty simply forbade it. Rebekah and Klaus needed him. His unborn niece needed him. And regardless of anything else that had happened, regardless of Hayley's betrayal of his trust, he had given his word to protect her and the child she was carrying. He may not actually have any feelings for her beyond considering her part of the family, but he had meant it when he had told her he cared about her - even if it perhaps wasn't in the way she had hoped. He simply could not break his word. Especially because if he did, those past few months would have been in vain. Protecting Hayley and the child had been the main reason why he had chosen to return to New Orleans permanently. His promise to keep them safe had been the one and only reason why he had willed himself to part from Katerina. If he abandoned those words now, it would ultimately mean that he had forsaken her for nothing. He would have broken her heart again for nothing. _He would have lost her for nothing!_ So, he would do what he had been doing now for over a thousand years, he would find a way to somehow persevere for the sake of his family.

Even though right now he admittedly couldn't even begin to comprehend how he was supposed to accomplish that, as even the simple act of breathing felt like too much effort. The truth was, right now every day that passed felt like he was dying over and over again on the inside, each time a little more. Yet he would never find relief from the pain, and never had his immortality felt more like a curse than it had ever since that fateful evening when Rebekah had first told him about Katherine's death.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:**_ _Thanks for reading, hope you liked the story so far. Feedback would be very much appreciating, as it's a great motivation with writing when I know what people think, what they like and what could perhaps be better.  
Anyways, I'm still working on the final part to this story, so I'm not sure when I will be able to post it. But I'm doing my best to get it done and up soon. :)  
_


	3. Part III: Until My Last Breath

_**Author's Notes:**_ _I know it took quite a while, but at long last, here is the third and final part of "Shattered"! I did struggle with semi-writing block throughout writing this, but I still hope that this chapter nonetheless is a satisfying conclusion to the story. Anyways, enjoy reading! **  
**_

* * *

 **Shattered**

 _~oOo Part III: Until My Last Breath oOo~_

Despite his resolve to somehow find a way to get through having lost Katerina, Elijah kept slipping deeper and deeper into depression with every passing day, the sheer pain and guilt threatening to completely consume him. Yet, at least, thankfully, nobody else had disturbed him since Hayley's visit the other day. Which he was, quite frankly, grateful for as he was in no state of mind for dealing with anyone at this point.

Perhaps, to most casual observers his intense reaction to Katherine's death may have seemed incomprehensible, as they would probably assume that after a thousand years of living even a tragedy such as losing someone beloved should amount to nothing new. After all, people died all the time, right? And sure, he had undoubtedly suffered more than a fair share of losses throughout his life, even already before he, his siblings and their father had become vampires. Over the course of his life he had lost siblings, friends, lovers... Only all too recently both Finn and Kol had been killed within only a few months of one another. He had lost Tatia and Céleste, and in a way he had already lost Katherine once before. Yet, even though losing people you cared about was inevitable when you were the closest one could get to being truly immortal, to him that circumstance didn't change that each and every loss he had been faced with had left an impact. Each time it was painful and each time, particularly if the cause was not a natural one, he would find himself wishing he could have done something to prevent it from happening. However, in over a thousand years not a single death, not a single loss he had experienced had left him so deeply affected - so utterly broken, as Katerina's death did now. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he would have to admit that not even losing Tatia had pained him quite as deeply. Then again, in a way his feelings for Katerina had always run considerably more deeply, and while it might be tempting to brush this circumstance off as the mere result of the fact that, unlike with Tatia, he had already been a vampire when he had met Katerina thus making his feelings for her stronger due to the overall heightened emotions, he knew it was far more than that. So, how on Earth was he supposed to not be deeply affected by Katerina's death, when she had meant everything to him!? When he already knew he would never love another woman the way he had loved her, still loved her?

It also certainly didn't help his state of mind one bit that he just couldn't silence his guilty conscience, the voices in his head tormenting him by ceaselessly reminding him of all the times he had failed and hurt her, and above everything else of the fact that none of this would have happened - that Katerina never would have become human again in the first place, if he hadn't left her. With every passing hour he realized more profoundly that he should have never left her, he should have never walked away that night! He should have finally - _for once in his life_ , put his own happiness before his family and acquiesced to Katerina's wishes, her suggestion to leave together instead of him leaving her to head to New Orleans. To take the chance they'd had to finally be together, to build a life with each other. They could have been _happy_! They could've had everything they had ever wanted to have with each other... But instead he had left, foolishly believing that the worst consequence of that choice would be having hurt Katerina yet again. Telling himself that he was merely postponing their life together. That there would be no real harm in him helping his family first. How utterly wrong he had been! And there was no way around the fact that in the end _he_ was responsible for Katerina's fate, that it was entirely his own fault that he had lost her! A fact that was further driven home by the circumstance that, as it turned out Katherine had indeed tried to reach out to him after Elena had forced her to take the cure. Being as the question whether she had done so had kept nagging at his mind with increasing urgency he had eventually looked through his phone logs from the time after he had left for New Orleans, and surely enough - just as he had already come to suspect - he had found a call from one of Katherine's numbers, as well as several calls from a blocked number after that, which had come in while he had been incapacitated by one of the silver daggers.

As he thought on this discovery Elijah cringed involuntarily, hands clenching up into fists and he momentarily closed his eyes, trying to keep his emotions - the all but overwhelming guilt plaguing him, at bay. It was already painful enough to get confirmation that Katerina had tried to contact him, knowing that she had needed him - perhaps hoping he could help her through the predicament she had found herself in - and he hadn't been able to be there for her, yet the guilt already tormenting him ever since Rebekah had told him what had happened was driven even deeper by the implications of Katerina's later calls. Because the fact that she had resorted to withholding her number when she had made those calls indicated that she had mistaken his failure to answer her first call as a sign he hadn't merely left her for the sake of his family, but had truly turned his back on her again. And it broke his heart to think she had died believing he no longer wanted anything to do with her, believing that he no longer cared about her. Which truly was why his guilty conscience weighed ever heavier upon him, slowly beginning to morph into the first seething pangs of self-loathing.

Perhaps, had this been anyone other than his beloved Katerina, he may have been able to eventually pull himself out of this ever deepening state of agony, to push those thoughts - his emotions aside, as under normal circumstances he was such a master of compartmentalizing his troubles. But Katerina would not be forgotten by him. It simply was a thing of impossibility, a circumstance proven to him again and again over the course of the five hundred years he had spent apart from her after her flight back in England, five centuries throughout which he had desperately tried to bury his feelings - his love for her, and move on. But time and time again he had failed. He just couldn't forget, couldn't stop feeling the way he did. And even now that he had lost her forever - or, perhaps, precisely _because_ he had truly lost her this time - he just couldn't stop thinking about her, couldn't banish the memories of all the wonderful moments they had shared. Yet, the more time passed, the more he also thought about what had happened to her, what she must have been going through when she had realized that she was human - that she was dying. He couldn't stop wondering what had been going through her mind in those final weeks, those final days, finding himself wondering whether she had been afraid, whether she had suffered... Most of all he couldn't keep himself from wondering whether Katerina, too, had blamed him for what had happened to her. For not reacting to her calls. For not at least trying to help her. For once again not being there for her when she had needed him. And with increasing frequency he also found himself wondering if, perhaps, her love for him had dissipated, if perhaps her feelings for him might have changed to hatred in those final weeks, because of the choice he had made, the fact that he had abandoned her once again.

And then there was the question of what had happened _after_.

God only knew what the Salvatore brothers and Elena might have done to Katherine, to her remains... After all, he was perfectly aware of how much they had hated Katerina, and the mere thought of what may have happened to her after her death was enough to fill him with unbearable dread, enough to make him almost physically sick. Yet, this didn't prevent those unwelcome thoughts from entering his mind time and time again, swirling with ever more persistence through his consciousness, making him feel increasingly torn between his desperate wish he could rewind and - if he already couldn't prevent Katerina from suffering this fate - at least return to the state of blissful oblivion he'd been in before being confronted with Rebekah's revelations on the one hand, and a growing need to know everything that had happened to Katerina after their parting on the other. And, maybe, it was a sign attesting to just how much havoc his guilty conscience was really wreaking on him that made him torment himself with these questions just to punish himself, but ultimately the need for answers - the need to _know_ \- soon began to outweigh his subconscious wish to shield himself from finding out any more details of what had actually happened.

Eventually he just couldn't bear the uncertainty, all those questions still coursing through his mind, any longer. So, he decided to just get it over with and make a trip to Mystic Falls to get the answers he needed. And, while he was there, he would retrieve Katherine's body and ensure she received a proper burial. He owed that much to Katerina, to himself. It was the least he could do, even though he knew it could never possibly be enough to atone for his mistakes, his failures. Nothing ever could be. But, if nothing else, perhaps, doing this might be able to give him at least some measure of closure. It would at least give him a chance to actually say goodbye to her. If he were to be completely honest with himself, however, he would have to admit that there were also other, far less noble motivations for making this trip lurking in the back of his mind. Namely, the wish for revenge, the wish to make Elena and the Salvatores pay for what they had done to his Katerina.

* * *

It was already afternoon when Elijah walked up to the Salvatore boarding house the day after he'd left New Orleans. He had considered taking his family's private jet to save time, however, eventually he had decided to drive instead. While he knew this option would take more time, it also provided him with something to focus his attention, his mind on, considering that otherwise his thoughts would only run rampant with his troubles. And if he was to accomplish anything with this trip, he couldn't allow himself to become consumed by his emotions. Once he had finally reached Mystic Falls, he had briefly stopped by the mansion Klaus had acquired for their family after he had broken his curse, before he went to confront Elena and the Salvatores, leaving his car at the mansion as he didn't want the vehicle's noise to alert his opponents of his impending arrival. After all, he had no desire to give them any opportunity to make up flimsy excuses for their actions which had led to Katerina's death. No, Elijah very much preferred catching them off guard as he didn't want excuses, or even any apologies. What he wanted were answers, and, if he was to be truly honest with himself, more than anything else he wanted someone to pay for the death of the woman he loved.

Upon reaching the lavish building the Salvatores called their home Elijah simply walked inside, currently not in any mood to bother with his usually impeccable manners, he just wanted this to be done with. He then followed the voices he heard towards the spacious living room, where he found Elena and the two brothers.

"I believe, you know why I am here." Elijah stated coldly as he walked into the room, not bothering with a greeting, his expression deceivingly calm, masking almost perfectly his emotions, his intentions - even though there truly could be very little, if any, doubt about the conclusion his visit would have, given the circumstances... Still, only the flicker of harsh coldness in his eyes may have betrayed the hostility, rage and even outright hatred he truly felt toward the three vampires assembled in front of him.

At his unexpected appearance the three of them flinched, Elena in particular, and they instantly turned around to face him, their expressions ranging between shocked surprise, unease and, in Damon's case, obvious disdain.

"Hope it's not for Katherine, 'cause she's quite dead. Has been for weeks." Damon retorted, his voice all but dripping with derision - just like Elijah had expected, while a smirk that rivaled even Klaus's in smugness played on his lips. Truthfully, even under the best of circumstances, Damon and his utterly disrespectful attitude had always been beyond grating to Elijah, yet in the past his self-control had generally kept him from losing his temper because of it. Today, however, Elijah had absolutely no patience whatsoever for Damon's usual insolence and, before the older Salvatore brother had even fully finished speaking, the Original already slammed him into the nearest wall, one hand tightly closing around his neck while only marginally resisting the impulse to just rip his throat out. But no, he wouldn't let Damon off the hook that easily, first he would teach him a lesson... Which was why, before Damon had any chance to react Elijah let one fisted hand forcefully slam into the younger vampire's chest, eliciting a pained gasp and knocking the air out of Damon as he let him crumble to the ground, incapable to breathe.

The sudden violence caused Elena to scream in startled surprise, but she didn't move to interfere nor did she rush over to help Damon, perhaps being too shocked as to do so right this moment. However, Stefan on the other hand broke his silence almost instantly, pointing out, "Hurting or killing us won't bring Katherine back, Elijah," while stepping closer to where Elijah was still standing over his momentarily immobilized brother.

"No, I suppose, it won't," Elijah replied coldly, now suddenly standing right behind Stefan, "But at least you will pay. Not just for all you did to Katerina, but also for all your transgressions against my family and me," he continued, his tone of voice becoming darker, while he thrusted his right hand into Stefan's chest from behind, tightly grasping his heart and ripping it out in one swift movement, eliciting a cry of disbelieving horror from Elena and an infuriated groan from Damon. Not paying either of them any mind Elijah carelessly discarded the heart in his hand, as Stefan's now lifeless body fell to the floor.

Meanwhile Damon had recovered enough from the harsh blow Elijah had landed against his lower chest to slowly get back up on his feet, although he was still breathing hard and staggered slightly as he stood. "You damn bastard!" the raven-haired Salvatore all but growled, as he angrily charged towards Elijah. The Original, however, easily stepped out of the way, barely even seeming to move, while in the same instant he grabbed Damon and threw him across the room, sending him crashing into one of the tall, massive bookshelves that lined one of the walls.

His expression still completely indifferent Elijah then straightened his suit out slightly, turning to look at Damon. "I think you have me confused with Niklaus." he remarked impassively.

"Well, you're no better than him!" Damon snarled, glaring furiously as he got back up on his feet, "And as for your _precious_ Katherine, she had it coming! That bitch just got what she deserved!"

At Damon's comments regarding Katerina, his demeaning choice of words, Elijah's face darkened with anger, his entire body tensing as he once again only marginally stopped himself from killing that insufferable fool right then. His hands tightening into fists it crossed his mind that, perhaps, it was time to finally show Damon just how alike to Klaus he could really be.

Elijah was pulled out of his thoughts when Damon spoke again just seconds later, "Actually, come to think of it; she got off way too easy," the words coming out in an angry growl, as he then lurched forward in a blind rage, quite clearly not caring one bit about the fact that, not only Elijah was far stronger and faster than him, but ultimately there wasn't really anything he could do to the Original. And before Damon had any real chance to truly follow through on this new attack against him, Elijah's right arm shot forward, his hand tightly closing around the younger vampire's throat, cutting off his air.

Up until then Elena had watched how the situation continued to escalate with growing horror and fear, too shocked by Stefan's death as to know how to stop this. But seeing Elijah choking Damon, keeping him suspended from his extended arm in midair, and seeing the cold determination upon the Original's face, the anger, Elena finally shook off her shock, because she knew Elijah well enough at this point to know that, if she didn't do something quickly he would kill Damon just as he had killed Stefan. And she just couldn't bear that thought, because while seeing Stefan being killed was already painful enough, just having to consider that Damon could suffer the same fate was incomprehensible. She remembered all too well the total despair she had felt after Katherine had caused Jeremy's death to get the cure, and she knew losing Damon would hit her even worse. Yet, seeing how angry Elijah was because of what had happened to Katherine, only having become further enraged by Damon's comments, she had no idea how to defuse the situation. Still, she had to try, and making a hesitant step towards the Origjnal she finally broke her silence, "Please, Elijah, don't hurt him, he had nothing to do with Katherine's death," she begged, tears streaking down her cheeks, "It's my fault she's dead, I turned her human... So, _please_ , kill me if you have to, but don't hurt Damon for what I did."

Not too long ago Elena's desperate plea for mercy may have been able to sway his resolve, but after what she had done to Katherine whatever sympathy he had once held for Katerina's doppelgänger had dissipated for good, and so now her words only fell on deaf ears. Mostly because, ultimately, what Elena had just said was true; it _was_ her fault that Katherine had died, she had set this in motion. And mere death would be too mild a punishment for what she had done. Granted, he did intend to kill her. But first he would make her suffer the way he was suffering, he would show her what it felt like to lose the one you loved the most and not be able to do anything about it. And his cold, hard gaze still set unwaveringly upon Elena's face he ripped Damon's throat out. Even as Elena screamed in horror and despair his expression never changed. As he then stepped over Damon's dead body and moved towards Elena, seeing the pain and tears on her face, Elijah momentarily considered to leave her alive for just a while longer, just so she would suffer more. But no, even if she were to be utterly miserable, Elena _didn't deserve_ to live while Katherine was dead! And so Elijah mercilessly continued to close the space between him and Elena, neither her sniveling and sobbing, nor her grief-stricken tears or even her resemblance to the woman he loved stopping him from yanking out her heart once he had reached her.

As he indifferently discarded Elena's heart and pulled out his handkerchief to meticulously wipe the blood from his hands, Elijah briefly acknowledged the fact that, although part of his reason for coming to Mystic Falls had been to get answers regarding just what had happened to Katherine prior to her death, as well as what had happened to her remains, he had killed both the Salvatores and Elena without actually asking about either of those things. However, almost just as soon as this thought entered his mind the Original already shrugged it off again. After all, ultimately no amount of answers would be able to give him Katerina back. Besides, he had his doubts that either one out of the trio would have actually told him anything useful. So, he would just have to find Katherine's remains on his own. A task which he was certain wouldn't be too difficult to accomplish.

* * *

After searching the grounds of the Salvatore estate and having come up empty, Elijah proceeded to methodically search the surrounding woods. Then again, he hadn't really expected that finding Katherine's remains would be quite _that_ easy. He supposed, not even Damon was enough of a fool as to dispose of a body within throwing distance of his family's home. Still, no matter how impatient he might be, he had never been one to disregard thoroughness and so he wouldn't leave a single stone unturned. He would find Katerina! Even if he had to search all of Virginia for where those arrogant fools had _buried_ her. If necessary he would scour all of the continuous United States, the entire Earth. Hell, he would drain the oceans if that was what it would take! But one way or the other he _would_ find her.

Although his heightened speed due to being a vampire allowed him to cover considerably more ground than a human could, he found no sign of where Katherine could be buried before nightfall. As darkness began to envelop his surroundings Elijah considered to take a break and return to his family's mansion on the edge of town, perhaps get some rest. However, eventually he decided against it and simply keep looking as, being a vampire, the lack of light was no real hinderance for him anyhow, so he just continued his search throughout the night.

The following day was already approaching early afternoon when eventually he found a spot where the soil had quite clearly been disturbed very recently. After a moment or two of hesitation he carefully started to dig. He only cleared small amounts of earth at a time, considering he had no way of knowing how shallow the grave might be, although he highly doubted that the Salvatores would have bothered digging too deep. And, just as if to prove his point, it didn't take long before he noticed something white peeking out from the dirt, causing him to stop digging and put the shovel aside. He then moved to crouch next to the hole he had dug to clear the rest of the earth with his hands, gradually uncovering something large wrapped in a white sheet. Katherine's remains, Elijah was all but certain of that.

As he studied the white bundle he had uncovered he couldn't help but ponder the fact that at least they'd had the decency to wrap Katerina in a shroud, or rather from the looks of it a bed sheet, although Elijah had his doubts that decency really had had anything to do with it. More likely it had actually been mere convenience, or a hope to attract less suspicion, while they had moved her from their house that had prompted this action. Yet, regardless of what their motives may have been, this had at least provided some measure of protection from the elements, the ground, to Katherine's body.

For another minute or two Elijah remained all but motionless, his gaze lingering on the bundle that undoubtedly contained the remains of the woman he loved. Finally, though, he moved onto his knees as he leaned forward and reached into the hole, carefully lifting the bundle out and then resting it gently on the ground between him and the edge of the makeshift grave it had been buried in.

After a long few moments he eventually slowly, meticulously, folded the edges of the cloth back to reveal Katherine's corpse. Only to freeze in shock as his gaze settled upon her familiar face, his eyes widening and he couldn't quite hold back a startled gasp, utterly stunned. Shocked. Of course, even before he had arrived in Virginia he had known Katerina was dead, after all, he had made this trip with the intention to retrieve her body. Truthfully, he had to admit that, at least in the back of his mind, he had known Katherine was gone from the moment Rebekah had told him about her supposed death. He had believed he was ready for this, that he was prepared to confront that fact, the reality of having lost her. And yet, now that he had found her, he realized with painful clarity that he had been dead wrong. He hadn't been ready for this, not even remotely. Because now he realized that, at least on some subconscious level, he had made this trip with the intention, the _hope_ of proving to himself that Rebekah and Klaus had lied after all. Despite having known better - even though he had _known_ Katherine was dead, there had still been a part of him which, deep down, had continued to cling to his hope that it wasn't true. A part of him which, against all sense of reason, against all logic, had still clung to his belief that Katerina wasn't dead; that she was actually alive, that she was alright, safe...

Still, his reaction wasn't just rooted in the pain of having even those last remnants of hope taken from him upon being faced with this irrefutable proof confirming his siblings' claim that Katherine had perished. His shock also stemmed to an almost even, or perhaps actually greater part from the sight of the corpse in front of him. He wasn't sure what he had expected to find - no, actually that wasn't entirely true. He had expected, had tried to prepare himself for the worst, to prepare himself for finding his beloved Katerina already in an advanced state of decay.

Yet that wasn't what he found before his eyes, because she looked just as he remembered. Just as she had the evening he had last seen her. There was not the slightest sign of decomposition, despite it having been considerably more than just a few mere days since her death. Despite the fact it was still summer, the days still hot and humid as was typical for the South. It was a climate that by definition didn't lend itself to preserve remains, especially not ones buried so closely to the surface. More to the point, despite what Rebekah had said about Katerina having died of old age there was no sign of that either, no gray in her hair, not even the faintest trace of wrinkles. Then again, his sister had implied that Katherine's health had detoriated so rapidly that the external changes of the aging process hadn't seemed able to keep up.

"Katerina..." he muttered barely audibly, bewildered beyond words, as he eventually allowed himself to brush his fingertips lightly over her face.

She truly looked completely unchanged. She still looked just as youthful, just as stunningly beautiful as she had the evening he had first met her all those years ago in England. And in the end that made this all so much worse, so much more painful than anything he had imagined. Far worse than any of the ghastly sights his mind, his imagination had conjured up. Because she looked _alive_. If he hadn't known better he could have thought - could have _believed_ , she was merely sleeping. She looked as if she might very well awaken any second, as if her eyes might flutter open any instant now and her beautiful smile would grace her face once more. But she didn't wake. Katerina wasn't sleeping... She was dead. There was no sign of life in her. She wasn't breathing, her heart wasn't beating. There was no warmth in her skin.

Slowly he gathered her in his arms, cradling her to his chest, as eventually the tears he had fought to hold back so stubbornly broke free, streaming down his face. He didn't bother trying to stop them, nor did he make any effort to wipe them away. After all, it wasn't as if there was anyone around to see his display of emotion. And frankly, at this point in time he was beyond caring. If there ever was a justification for his usual mask of unaffected aloofness to slip, if there ever was anything to warrant him crumbling to pieces in sheer and agonizing despair it would be this. _Katerina - the girl he had been in love with for over five centuries, the love of his immortal life, was dead..._ With everything he had been forced to endure throughout his long, endless life, with all he had somehow managed to cope with, even his strength - his actual _will_ to be strong, had its limitations.

Still, after a long while Elijah eventually managed to compose himself. Once his tears had fully subsided, the moisture drying from his face he picked up Katherine's body and in one smooth movement rose to his feet. He then started to head back into the direction of his family home on the edge of town.

When he arrived at the mansion he carried Katherine inside and into the living room, where he gently rested her on the couch. He then went back outside to his car to get the coffin, which he had brought for Katherine's remains, and brought it inside. As he walked back into the living room he set the coffin down near the couch and took a brief moment to study the polished mahogany and the beautiful, intricate carvings in its surface. Tearing his gaze away he leaned down and opened the lid, before he turned and walked the few remaining steps to where he had left Katherine. Yet, even once he had reached the couch, he didn't pick her up to move her to the coffin right away. Instead he couched down beside her, reaching one hand out to her face and lightly trailing his fingertips over her cheek, just looking at her, studing every line and every curve as if they weren't already engrained into his memory for eternity. Finally, though, he tore his gaze away and straightened, rising to his full height while gathering Katherine in his arms and carrying her over to where the coffin was. Upon reaching the coffin he gently lowered Katherine's body inside, his gaze continuing to linger on her, on her face for a couple of moments, before he finally reached out and closed the lid, a heavy sigh escaping past his lips as he did so.

He considered driving back to New Orleans right away, however, he knew that he ought to at least try to get some rest first. Even though he had his doubts he would in fact be able to get much, if any, sleep.

* * *

Two days after returning to New Orleans with Katherine's remains Elijah was just taking care of the final arrangements for her burial. The day was approaching evening when he eventually headed to the cemetery. By the time he arrived the sun had started setting, painting the flawless clear sky vibrant colors and bathing the tombs and gravestones at Lafayette in a golden red glow. As he parked his car and stepped out onto the pavement he couldn't help but think that this was far too beautiful an evening for having to bury someone you loved. No, this was the kind of setting meant to be enjoyed rather than being spent saying goodbye as you were being consumed by grief.

Only a few minutes later Elijah was pulled out of his thoughts when the hearse carrying the coffin that now held Katherine's remains arrived. Elijah watched as, almost as soon as the car had arrived, a group of cemetery workers who had been waiting by the entrance made their way over to the vehicle to retrieve the casket and bring it to the tomb where it was to be interred. Looking after them, the Original remained motionless for a couple of moments before he followed the other men.

Before long they stopped in front of a beautiful, old tomb in a more secluded part of the cemetery. When they reached their destination Elijah retrieved the key needed to unlock the doors leading into the tomb. He let the doors swing open and watched how the cemetery employees carried the casket inside, lowering it into the marble sarcophagus already waiting there. Once they were done Elijah thanked the men, polite as ever, even as he simultaneously compelled them to forget everything that had transpired, more specifically, ensuring they wouldn't remember having seen him nor the reason why he had been there. After all, part of the whole reason why he had made the trip to Mystic Falls and recovered Katherine's remains had been that he wanted her to be able to rest in peace, which made him rather prefer for nobody to know where she was buried.

Elijah simply kept standing where he was for a while, even once he was alone. Eventually he stepped farther into the tomb and towards the sarcophagus. He let another moment pass before he reached out and opened the lid of the casket, taking a few moments to just look at the beautiful girl he had loved for so long. Finally, after quite a bit of time had passed he broke the silence which enveloped the tomb, his gaze still lingering upon the lovely face which had both mesmerized and haunted him in equal measures, on two separate women, for the past thousand years, "I do hope, _pray_ that perhaps, at least now, you can find some measure of peace, my love. And perhaps, one day you may be able to forgive me... For all the times I failed you. For not trying harder to find a way to be with you. For not having put you - _us_ first. For not even being with you, there for you when you needed me the most." However, deep down he knew he would never be able to forgive himself for any of those things. Katerina had been the love of his immortal life, and now she was gone, forever lost to him... And it was all his own fault, because he hadn't been there to protect her.

He reached out his hand to her face, trailing his fingers ever so gently over her cheek. He briefly bit his lip, feeling his emotions - the pain, the grief and regret, weigh heavier and heavier upon him. Yet, at least for the moment, he still managed, marginally, to keep himself together. Eventually he continued speaking, his voice cracking ever so slightly as he told her softly, "I love you, Katerina, I always have and I always shall. You will always have my heart. Until my very last breath, I will be yours." He fell silent then, lowering his head and closing his eyes as he tried his best to cling to his composure, although at this point it seemed more and more like a battle impossible to win.

After a long few minutes Elijah slowly opened his eyes, the grief and pain now written clearly across his face, the faintest trace of moisture glistening in his eyes, yet he stoically held the tears back as he leaned down. "Goodbye, my love." he whispered before he brushed the lightest kiss against her lips. Slowly pulling away he simply stood there for a moment, just looking at Katherine's beautiful face. He caressed her cheek once more and brushed his fingers through her hair, then he stepped back and gently closed the lid of the casket. With ease he then picked up the slab of polished marble, putting it in its proper place on top of the sarcophagus. When he had closed the sarcophagus as well he briefly trailed his fingers over the cool stone surface, simply tracing the words engraved upon it. He could feel his composure slipping, the tears now threatening to inevitably break free as he placed a single red rose upon the stone coffin, the crimson flower coming to rest right over Katherine's now silent heart.

Elijah kept standing there, rooted in place for a long while, a few tears trailing down his cheeks. However, eventually he willed himself to regain some semblance of composure. He retrieved the handkerchief from his jacket pocket, taking a moment to dry the moisture on his face. As he let the piece of cloth disappear back in its proper place he took a steadying breath before he finally tore his gaze from the sarcophagus and turned around. After he had stepped outside he closed the double winged door and locked the tomb. Once he had tucked the key safely away in the inside pocket of his jacket he placed his hand upon the door, closing his eyes and lowering his head for the briefest moment as he silently said goodbye one last time to the girl he loved, then he let his hand drop and with a brief, final glance at the shut door he turned to leave.

There still was no sense of closure within him as he slowly made his way through the cemetery and back towards where he had parked his car. All he could feel was the same pain, the same sorrow - the same agonizing numbness that had haunted him ever since it had truly hit him that Katerina was dead. Deep down he knew with absolute certainty that the gashing wound left by her death would never - _could_ never be healed. Not even by all of time. There would never be any true relief from this pain, nothing that would be able to fill the painful void left in his heart. The only faint glimpse of solace he had, was the knowledge that at least Katerina would be able to rest in peace now, as not only was the tomb locked, but he'd also had a witch who had owed him a favor seal it with a barrier spell so only he could enter. Now none of Katerina's enemies, nor his siblings or the local witches could get to her. Nobody would ever disturb her. At least he had been able to do that much for her. Even though he knew it wasn't nearly enough to atone for failing her so profoundly time and time again. For the pain he knew he had caused her. For all his many broken promises. And he knew nothing he could do would ever quiet the guilt haunting him. Just as he knew with every fiber of his being that he would never be able to get over Katerina, let alone the fact that he had lost her. She truly would always have his heart, until his very last breath.

 _ **~oOo Fin oOo~**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:**_ _Thanks to everyone for reading, I hope you enjoyed the story! Although "Shattered" is now finished, I hope that many more people will read and review it, and hopefully favorite it. During the eighteen or so months I worked on this story I did play with an idea for a possible sequel, however, for the time being there won't be one. In part because I have a number of other Kalijah stories I want to write more than a sequel to this story. While I'm not entirely sure just when I might start posting any of these other stories, I definitely will write and post more stories about Katherine and Elijah, so feel free to subscribe to me to make sure you won't miss any of them. Again, thanks to everyone who read this story and those who have reviewed it, or might do so in the future! :)_


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